~Sunday, June 12, 2022~
Day 728
Waking up to more “favorable” temperatures and some overcast was quite a relief from those insane temperatures we had the past few days. Plus, the weather conditions were perfect for celebrating a belated Mother’s Day with my beautiful mom at our favorite nursery/cafe…….High Hand Nursery.
Being away on special celebrations like that one is never easy, but I promised I would make it up to her on my June visit. So here we are. Nestled in the beautiful nursery, with a bright and casual atmosphere, is their cafe where you have a choice of sitting in a huge greenhouse style building or outdoors next to a koi pond, amongst the abundant, gorgeous lush plants that this nursery is known for. With the weather ever so lovely, we sat outdoors. The bonus was watching the many playful dogs and adorable kids that passed our table on occasion. Seeing them only made me miss my Sadie and grandchildren that much more.
Mom and I decided on the same beverage…..a Bloody Mary
to pair with our breakfasts of Huevos Rancheros for me, and Eggs Benedict for mom. The service was terrific and the food was just as I remembered it.
Of course you can’t leave without perusing the nursery and is it ever easy to get “lost” and lose track of time in its peaceful, serene atmosphere. The history of High Hand goes back to 1901 as it was the central packing shed for fruits such as peaches, grapes, pears and plums for the Loomis Fruit Growers’ Association. Today, it houses a variety of specialty shops in the way of art, jewelry, olive oil, pottery, etc. with a few new
additions set to open this summer……a brewery at one end of the property and a mushroom farm in their basement. Very cool.
Our first and only stop was the High-Hand Art Gallery where we ended up not only browsing the interesting gallery, but chatting with a few of the artists themselves. Angela Ridgway is an abstract metal artist
who gets much of her inspiration from her travel experiences. We especially liked her “heart” work
and the colors she uses on her pieces. It was very interesting hearing about the details of her transforming either virgin or reclaimed pieces of metal into beautiful works of art. One talented lady. You can check out her bio and gallery at http://www.angelaridgway.com/. Maureen Gilli, on the other hand, prefers working in paper, wood, and found objects. With her never-ending curiosity and watchful eye of the world around her, she is particularly fascinated with ravens and owls. We particularly liked her 3-dimensional paper art piece
called “After Dark”. You can also check out her fabulous work at https://sites.google.com/acaistudios.com/acai-gallery/maureen-gilli.
Since it’s been months since I last saw my sister and bro-in-law, I was really looking forward to their visit this weekend. Tim was going to spend Father’s Day with his dad, and Tracy with us. But sadly due to Tim being sick, they won’t be able to make it this time around. So we’ll have to catch them at a later date. 😢
Mom and I spent the latter part of the afternoon enjoying her backyard patio over a few light horderves. Still full from our morning meals, we weren’t interested in making a big dinner. It was nice to have a relaxing evening while watching a fascinating special on 60-Minutes about climate change and what it’s doing to the centuries old grape growing region in France (particularly the Champagne region). I had no idea that things were that bad. I guess being on the road, rarely in touch with the news, has been a good thing. It was after seeing this segment that we needed something a little more uplifting……so the movie, Parent Trap (the second one) it was. Love, love that movie!